Panthers Recall Luke Kunin
Luke Kunin’s time in the minors was short-lived. With the roster limit in the NHL now lifted, the Panthers have recalled the veteran, according to the AHL’s transactions log.
The 28-year-old has spent most of the season in Florida but passed through waivers unclaimed less than a week ago, resulting in an assignment to AHL Charlotte. That had him set to see his first action at that level since the 2018-19 campaign, when he was still a prospect in Minnesota’s system. However, that playing time will be capped at one game, as Kunin recorded two assists last night and is now back up with the big club.
Kunin has played in 44 games with Florida this season, his first year with the club. However, he has been fairly quiet offensively, notching just two goals and two assists, by far his lowest full-season output. Unsurprisingly, his playing time has been rather limited as well, as he’s logging just 8:36 per contest, well below his career average of 14:18 per game.
Despite being out of a playoff spot, Florida was a light buyer, so to speak, at the trade deadline. They picked up Vinnie Hinostroza from Minnesota and claimed Cole Reinhardt off waivers from Vegas. Now, with Kunin back up, the Panthers have some extra forward depth to hedge against injuries or if they decide to shut some players down to help get them ready for next season.
Panthers Want To Extend Sergei Bobrovsky, A.J. Greer
Leading up to the deadline, it was believed that the Florida Panthers were shopping pending unrestricted free agents Sergei Bobrovsky and A.J. Greer. Ultimately, neither player was moved, and the Panthers appear intent on keeping them in Sunrise for a while longer.
According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, Florida is focused on signing Bobrovsky to an extension. LeBrun later added that the same is true for Greer. Both should be doable since the Panthers will have roughly $15MM in cap space this summer with all of their core retained. The only hangup could be Mackie Samoskevich‘s next contract, as he will become a restricted free agent in a few months.
It’s not entirely known what Bobrovsky’s asking price is for his next contract, but it’ll certainly be lower than his current $10MM AAV. Furthermore, he’s on the wrong side of 30 and will be coming off the worst season of his professional career.
Granted, Bobrovsky has backstopped Florida to three consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final and has won the last two. Still, this season, he has managed a 22-19-1 record in 43 games with a .873 SV% and 3.13 GAA. Additionally, his -0.382 Goals Saved Above Expected per 60 is the fourth-worst in the league among netminders that have played in 30 or more contests.
If the Panthers can get Bobrovsky on a two-to-three-year deal, they’ll likely be able to agree with Bobrovsky relatively quickly. Some outlets have indicated that Bobrovsky is seeking a five-year deal, which could be the reason that the two sides haven’t arranged anything sooner.
Meanwhile, unlike Bobrovsky, Greer is enjoying the best season of his career. Over the past two years with Florida, Greer has scored 17 goals and accumulated 39 points in 142 games, along with 381 hits. It’s not a groundbreaking production by any stretch, but Greer offers immense physicality and timely goal-scoring from the fourth line.
Unfortunately, his productivity likely means that the Panthers won’t be able to extend him on a similar salary. Greer is earning an $850K salary this season and is likely seeking to cash in while he can. Still, even if he is expected to sign a larger contract, his salary shouldn’t be more than $2MM.
AHL Assignments: 3/6/25
Today’s trade deadline also has minor-league implications. Players must be on an AHL roster at 2:00 p.m. Central in order to be eligible to play in the Calder Cup Playoffs. As such, teams will be ferrying a large number of waiver-exempt players to the minors this morning and afternoon before recalling them before the end of the league day for cap counting at 4:00 p.m. That allows them to bypass the new rule that players must play at least one game in the minors after being reassigned before they’re eligible for a recall again.
Here’s the rundown of today’s reassignments that will be announced during the blizzard of other moves today:
- The Flames will ferry winger Matvei Gridin to the Calgary Wranglers, Ryan Pike of Flames Nation reports. The 2024 #28 overall pick is in his first professional season and is already beginning to look like a natural fit in the Flames’ top nine, posting seven points through his first 18 NHL games while averaging 14:18 of ice time per night. Gridin’s 4.17 shot attempts per game are fourth on the team after Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar were traded away. He’s also got 10 goals and 29 points in 36 games for the Wranglers, but with the Flames’ roster thinning out as they sell pieces off, he’ll be up in the NHL for the stretch run before returning to the playoff-bound Wranglers after the regular season ends.
- The Jets announced they’ve sent winger Walker Duehr and defender Isaak Phillips to AHL Manitoba. Both may find their way back down to Manitoba on a full-time basis before the end of the season as Winnipeg gets some of its IR-bound players back in the lineup, but for now, they’ll serve as depth pieces for the Jets as they potentially subtract more talents from their roster today.
- The Mammoth sent defenseman Dmitriy Simashev to Tucson, per PuckPedia. The 2023 sixth overall pick got into the Utah lineup for the first time since December last night. The rookie has been exceptional in the minors but has just one assist with a -9 rating through his first 25 career NHL outings.
- The Blackhawks assigned defender Ethan Del Mastro to Rockford, per PuckPedia. He’ll be back up after being recalled earlier in the week to replace Connor Murphy on the roster after he was dealt to the Oilers.
- The Penguins have sent down winger Avery Hayes to make him post-season eligible, per Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The 23-year-old rookie has two goals through his first six NHL contests over the past several weeks, both of which came in his debut.
- The Avalanche have demoted winger Gavin Brindley to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Brindley is in his first full NHL season after being acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets last year, scoring six goals and 12 points in 47 games, averaging 9:51 of ice time per game.
- The Rangers are making sure that AHL Hartford has reinforcements for the playoffs. New York has reassigned forwards Jaroslav Chmelar and Juuso Pärssinen. The former scored the first goal of his NHL career in a lopsided victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
- According to a team announcement, the Vancouver Canucks have reassigned netminder Nikita Tolopilo and defenseman Cole Clayton to AHL Abbotsford. Tolopilo has been a mainstay between the pipes for Vancouver over the last little while, managing a 3-5-2 record in nine starts this season with a .901 SV% and 3.27 GAA.
- Unlikely to make the playoffs this season, the Panthers are making sure the cupboards are stocked for the Charlotte Checkers’ playoff run. The Panthers have reassigned Tobias Björnfot and Sandis Vilmanis, allowing them to remain eligible for the postseason.
- The Kraken have reassigned forwards Jacob Melanson and Ryan Winterton to the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. The pair have combined for four goals and 19 points in 82 games for Seattle this season.
- According to Bill Hoppe of the Times Herald, the Buffalo Sabres have assigned Zach Metsa to the AHL’s Rochester Americans in a paper transaction. Metsa, 27, is in his first full NHL season, scoring two goals and four points in 31 games, averaging 9:45 of ice time per game.
- The best team in the AHL may be even better during the playoffs. To maintain their eligibility for the postseason, the Grand Rapids Griffins announced that captain Dominik Shine and defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka have been reassigned in a paper transaction.
- According to Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports, the Flyers have reassigned Denver Barkey and Adam Ginning to AHL Lehigh Valley. Barkey has been an encouraging story of late, scoring two goals and 10 points in his first 26 games of NHL action.
- Murat Ates of The Athletic confirmed that the Winnipeg Jets reassigned defenseman Elias Salomonsson to retain his postseason eligibility. Salomonsson has been relatively disappointing for AHL Manitoba this season, registering one goal and nine points in 29 contests.
- Pushing back on the earlier report today indicating that the Canucks had recalled Ty Mueller, Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet shared that he won’t be joining the Canucks. Vancouver will run with a bare-bones roster tonight against the Blackhawks.
- Missing the playoffs for the first time in a decade, the Maple Leafs are making sure AHL Toronto has additional firepower for their postseason run. According to Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun, the Maple Leafs have reassigned Easton Cowan and Jacob Quillan in a paper transaction. Despite being a higher-regarded prospect, Cowan only has two games of AHL experience.
- As expected, the Edmonton Oilers have reassigned forward Josh Samanski to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors to ensure his postseason eligibility. Samanski has been exceptional for AHL Bakersfield this year, registering eight goals and 31 points in 43 games with a +6 rating.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Florida Panthers Claim Cole Reinhardt
The Vegas Golden Knights will lose one of their bottom-six forwards. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Florida Panthers have claimed Cole Reinhardt off waivers from Vegas.
Reinhardt, 26, will join the third organization of his career. The Calgary, AB native was selected 181st in the 2020 NHL Draft by the Ottawa Senators, and spent five years playing in the organization before joining the Golden Knights last summer.
Throughout his days in the Senators organization, Reinhardt was mostly an AHL talent. Across his five years with the AHL’s Belleville Senators, Reinhardt scored 54 goals and 131 points in 270 games with 275 PIMs.
Unfortunately, his role as a secondary scorer in the AHL hasn’t translated to the NHL level. He’s played 44 games for Vegas this season, scoring three goals and seven points in 44 games. Across his career, he has registered four goals and nine points in 62 games.
Still, he has remained a physical force. In his 62 career contests, Reinhardt has tallied 123 hits. Since he’s still on the younger side, and can immediately join the Panthers’ bottom-six. Florida is expected to move a few depth pieces ahead of today’s deadline, and Reinhardt will be a stopgap for the time being. He is signed through next season at a $813K cap hit, but will be owed $850K in actual salary.
Panthers Acquire Vinnie Hinostroza From Wild
The Panthers have acquired winger Vinnie Hinostroza from the Wild for future considerations, the teams announced. Michael Russo of The Athletic was the first to report. It clears a bit of a forward logjam for Minnesota, which has already acquired Bobby Brink and Nick Foligno in separate deals this morning.
The Wild could have waived Hinostroza, but if he were claimed tomorrow, he wouldn’t have been eligible to play for his new club in the playoffs since he would have changed teams after the trade deadline. Florida likely won’t be reaching the show anyway, but Hinostroza now at least has the option to suit up if it happens.
Hinostroza arrived in Minnesota off the waiver wire last season via the Predators. He’s in the back half of a two-year, two-way deal he signed with Nashville in 2024 and will be a free agent this summer. The veteran of 460 NHL games had been mostly an AHL call-up option for the past few seasons, but had an exceptional scoring run in Milwaukee last season while on the Preds’ farm that put him back on the map. He broke camp with the Wild last fall as a result and has been a decent depth scoring presence for them this season amid a rash of injuries, posting a 3-7–10 scoring line in 48 games while seeing 10:18 of ice time per night.
With Minnesota’s forward group back near full health and their pair of additions today making him the #15 or #16 forward on the depth chart, it’s unlikely he would have played at all if he remained on the Wild’s roster down the stretch. They’ll instead do him a solid by letting him get some bottom-six reps in Florida, who’s dealing with injuries of their own and are expected to move on from a winger in A.J. Greer today, to keep getting some playing time and boost his chances for a one-way deal as a UFA this summer.
Kraken Interested In Mackie Samoskevich
The Kraken have contacted the Panthers about the availability of winger Mackie Samoskevich, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
While Seattle has been shopping around a young forward of their own in Shane Wright, they’re not looking to leverage him in these talks, Friedman adds. They’re still putting him forth in discussions with other clubs but prefer to use him as part of a package for a more established scoring threat, not in a one-for-one swap.
It’s hard to see why Florida would be chomping at the bit to make Samoskevich available unless there’s a concern they won’t be able to sign him this summer. The Kraken have made clear their intentions to add, not subtract, at this year’s deadline as they find themselves in playoff position, so it doesn’t appear they’d be shipping a roster player back to the Panthers in the deal, either.
While Samoskevich likely hasn’t had the year the Cats hoped for, he still has the highest ceiling of any under-25 player in their system. Selected 24th overall in 2021, the 5’11” righty is now 23 years old in just his second NHL season. The high-energy winger ended up as mostly an extra forward on their Cup run, but was an excellent depth contributor in the regular season, tallying 15 goals and 31 points in 72 games.
Florida looked to give Samoskevich more minutes this year, especially with Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov absent from their top six to start the year. While he’s gotten a small bump in ice time to over 14 minutes per game, his production has actually taken a step back. He’s clicking with a 6-15–21 scoring line through 59 appearances, a dropoff from 0.43 points per game last season to 0.36. A lot of that has to do with a string of horrid finishing. He’s already topped last year’s shots on goal total but is shooting at just 4.7%, so there’s serious positive regression potential there.
The Panthers already had fits trying to get a new deal done for Samoskevich last summer after his entry-level pact expired. He accepted a one-year, league-minimum pact with no leverage – he was a 10.2(c) RFA who was ineligible to receive and sign offer sheets. That’s no longer the case this summer, though, and he’ll be eligible for arbitration as well. Florida has nearly $15.5MM in cap space for this summer, with the rising upper limit, but that’s with five roster spots to fill and both of their goaltenders heading for unrestricted free agency. That’s limited enough to make Samoskevich an offer sheet threat.
It’s no surprise, then, that the Cats are setting what Friedman calls a “high price.” Florida doesn’t have a first-round pick again until 2028, so unless they offload a significant asset in the meantime, they won’t be getting a young forward of his caliber back in the system anytime soon. With Seattle boasting four first-round picks in the next two drafts, they’ve got the draft capital to dangle, plus one of the league’s better prospect pools, to help the Cats restock their cupboards while helping Seattle push the envelope in developing some higher-ceiling scoring options.
Minnesota Wild Acquire Jeff Petry
The Minnesota Wild are adding a veteran presence to their backend ahead of the playoffs. According to a team announcement, the Wild have acquired Jeff Petry from the Florida Panthers for a conditional 2026 seventh-round pick.
Included in Minnesota’s announcement were the conditions on the draft pick. If the Wild make it to the Western Conference Final, and Petry plays in 50% or more of the Wild’s playoff games heading into the Western Conference Final, the pick will upgrade to Minnesota’s fifth-round pick this season.
At this stage of his career, Petry, 38, is only fit for a depth role. This season, his first with the Panthers, he was relegated to a bottom-pairing role. Throughout the year, he has tallied eight assists in 58 games with a -10 rating, averaging 14:51 of ice time.
That’s largely what he turned into during his time with the Detroit Red Wings. Before moving to Sunrise, Petry spent two years in HockeyTown, scoring four goals and 32 points in 117 games. Unlike his time with the Panthers, Petry was typically in Detroit’s top-two defensive pairings.
Given his play with the Red Wings, it was no question why Petry had to settle for a one-year, league minimum contract last summer. Playing next to Ben Chiarot for much of last season, the pair finished with the lowest xGoals% in the league (for pairings that had played 400 or more minutes together) with a 41.3% output.
That trend has continued with Florida. According to Moneypuck, the combination of Uvis Balinskis and Petry has combined for a 46.6% xGoals% this season, ranking 65th out of 83 defensive pairings that have played 300 or more minutes together.
That makes the move more peculiar on Minnesota’s end. The team already had seven defensemen on the active roster before the trade and had multiple defensive assets in the AHL that have already played this season. At any rate, instead of spending potentially his last season in the NHL with a team outside of a playoff spot, Petry will have the opportunity to compete for the first Stanley Cup of his career.
A.J. Greer Generating Trade Interest
- In a separate report from Weekes, the former netminder shared that Brandon Duhaime of the Washington Capitals and A.J. Greer of the Florida Panthers are drawing interest as potential bottom-six options. Each forward is incredibly physical and can chip in offensively when needed. Greer has had the better year between the two, scoring 11 goals and 22 points in 61 games with 159 hits.
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Panthers Waive Tobias Bjornfot, Louis Domingue
The Panthers have placed defender Tobias Björnfot on waivers for the purpose of assignment to AHL Charlotte, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Florida also waived goalie Louis Domingue after signing him to a two-way deal earlier today. The former’s demotion will open a roster spot for the Cats to activate either winger Jonah Gadjovich or defenseman Seth Jones, both of whom are close to a return, from long-term injured reserve.
Initially claimed off waivers from the Golden Knights in 2023-24, Björnfot subsequently re-signed with Florida last summer on a two-way deal and continues to be rewarded with a good bit of recall action. Florida recalled Björnfot at the start of January after Jones’ upper body injury and, after sitting as a healthy scratch for several games, finally got a start as their #3 lefty over Donovan Sebrango and stuck in the lineup for a good stretch. He missed some time last month with an undisclosed injury but has since returned.
Through 11 games, Björnfot was the ideal no-fuss replacement piece. The former first-round pick of the Kings posted a pair of goals and an assist while recording a +4 rating, averaging just 11:33 per game. The smooth-skating rearguard had eight hits and posted great possession metrics in his sheltered minutes, controlling 61.7% of shot attempts at even strength.
Florida will hope to retain the 24-year-old through the waiver process. Considering his limited NHL utility over the past few seasons, it’s unlikely a team looking to add on the blue line will use a roster spot on him right now, so they should be able to retain him. He’ll be a restricted free agent again this summer so Florida still has first right of refusal on his signing rights.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see them try to get him re-upped on another two-way deal, potentially with a higher guarantee than the $450K one he’s on now. He’s been a great defensive conscience in Charlotte’s top four over the past two years and has shown to be a reliable insurance option in the #8 slot or so on their defensive depth chart.
Panthers Sign Louis Domingue To Two-Way Contract
The Panthers announced they’ve signed goaltender Louis Domingue to a two-way contract for the remainder of the season. Financial terms were not disclosed. If they want to assign him back to AHL Charlotte, where he’d been playing on a minor-league deal, they’ll need to place him on waivers. If they do so today, he won’t count against their active roster.
Domingue, 33, headed overseas for the first time in his pro career to begin this season. After posting a .892 SV% in 11 games with Sibir Novosibirsk of the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia, he obtained a release and signed an AHL deal with Charlotte around Thanksgiving.
The veteran of 10 NHL seasons has appeared sparingly for Charlotte, notching an .831 SV% and 3.20 GAA in seven outings with a 3-3-0 record. He’s gone long stretches without dressing and has suited up just four times since the New Year. At present, he’s essentially fifth on Florida’s goaltending depth chart behind NHLers Sergei Bobrovsky and Daniil Tarasov, AHL starter Cooper Black, and AHL backup Kirill Gerasimyuk, with the latter two also signed to NHL deals.
It’s not uncommon for teams to sign an additional goalie during deadline week to have them on hand to roster as their emergency backup during the playoffs. Florida did it several times in the past few years with Evan Cormier. The Cats are now slipping from playoff contention, however, and reportedly decided to pivot toward selling off their pending UFAs this morning. It’s more likely that Domingue is insurance to keep having four goalies under contract in case the Panthers decide to deal Bobrovsky or Tarasov, both of whom will hit the open market this summer.